1. Field of The Invention
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for controlling auxiliary equipment driven by an internal combustion engine and, more particularly, to an apparatus for controlling auxiliary equipment driven by an internal combustion engine allowing optimum control of auxiliary equipment according to the future operating conditions of the internal combustion engine.
2. Prior Art
At present, many motor vehicles are provided with what are called automatic transmission devices (hereunder referred to as ATs). The gear position of AT is controlled by a transmission control device (hereunder referred to as "T/MC") using one of plurality of shift patterns (for example, a shift pattern for running on a level road, a shift pattern for climbing an uphill road, and a shift pattern for descending a downhill road) represented as functions of a speed of a motor vehicle and a throttle valve opening.
Further, there has been already proposed an apparatus which can detect a current running position of a motor vehicle using a navigation system optimumly to control T/MC (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 6-272753).
However, an internal combustion engine drives not only driving road wheels but also auxiliary equipment (for instance, an alternator, an oil pump for a power steering system, an air conditioner, and a vacuum pump).
Therefore, even if the optimal position of T/MC is selected based on a navigation information similarly as in the prior art, the specific fuel consumption of the internal combustion engine may be deteriorated depending upon the driving conditions of the auxiliary equipments when a high driving force is required, for example, when driving uphill.
The present invention is accomplished to solve the aforementioned problem of the prior art.